Emergency declutching mechanism for clothes wringers



C. W. FEHER June 3, 1952 EMERGENCY DECLUTCHING MECHANISM FOR CLOTHES WRINGERS Filed Nov. 3. 1949 huhuhu hh u k Q I||| lllll M 11..

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n e v wh e e n e m ,VW. t. n t 1 0 I A 3 CM Patented June 3, 1952 UNITED "EQ QQQT W GEW Gecil W. Feher, Shelton, Conn assignor to Gene l; leetrie G na v a eoteo ie ioa a NEW @2 This invention relates to an improved clothes wringe'r "safetyl device'of the, instinctive? type, and has for a principal object the provision of a simplified emergency mechanism by which the operator. inay. immediately disconnect the wringer rdlldriving gear from the. drive. shaft by pushing of: pulling on the wringer frame.

Broadly speaking, emergency devices oi this general'type. are. well known. I; consider that my invention rovides an improved mechanism for translating an angular. movement of; the wringer frame. relative to. the, vvringer head into an appropriate release movement of a detent to free a gear shifting device within the head; for return toneutral. In. a pre entl wet-er e embod men I bias the ear shift m ets to; hetero *9 n t position f om ei h r o t opera ng o i n at w ich th dir etion o ro at o the driven roller i th wrin er estab ished e dh l z e simn e de eht, .h ti as enrih bia e ge which e ga es ahihe hin heteh t h the ehotee d ive 9 ;919:112 Th ih e m is pivotally supported on the wringer headj'an'd h s a le e one h ir ee ie g 'ewi a detent rele se, device ch upon rotation by the 'lever an n. de e, "t s as t h T e re ease oer ee s at-Pit" -th 1 Sid edges, o its hate hot ieo alt-end f l me bou wh ay ndoonv 'n't on l oer 5 3 a t. o e r i to H i ttoeiv e etee of eeteh ents, and other disadvanta eous conditions hseseht d i lethd ie inventionis'featured by its simplification of m fact ring anda efnbly operations withs acrifice w amm as wilhbe," apparent from the'following d'e'tailed 'des cription'of the tejse th eiienea embodiment shown i the accompanying anthem which Fig. 1 is 941m elevati'o" of a wring'er. embodying t1on;Eig.'2" s a plan view of thee'nd l j 'ee di eith e t e e at t'elv sme g at o l nhceneih hr the stringer" frame 5 ry tehpeiatet ss ergt y release; Fig. I v 't"schematically h'ift lever n heutralfFig; 4 he m an sh a icating the hit or the t of he'ivr h r rame in F 2,; an the 5 is oeteee tive 0 Q the detent releas at.

Referring now to. his. 1, the olothes win er includes a driving head I arranged in any suit able fashion for support on a base 2 which may, be a structunal part of a washing machine (not shown). The wringer frame 3, which may, be of any conventional pattern, includes end stiles such as the stile 4 within which are housed upper and lower bearin bl cks. 5, 5 iourna in th shafts of the wringer rolls 1-, 8,. As is convent nal, a t p fram member 9 confines a bow spring It the ends of which rest. upon the top roll bearing blocks to. maintain the wringer roll pressure.

' The wringer frame is pivotally s orted on the head by'means such as a bracket l l secured to h end'ot stile 4 and a ixed o he Wri er h d y piv t screws it I prefer o. u e ho r siv mate ials suc as he. var o e d e: casting. alloys for the head and bracket to insure that the bracket will always be freely swingable on the head. As. best ap ea s in Big. he s ppo bra e H is channels-shaped and of o etahtial W d h for coope ation w th he n s M which are s oketed i oo se s t a e si s of the head I. Springs Hi In 'ntain the normal p at n r l t onship etween the frame. a head and insure the driving engagement of the lower l h f l w th the dr ve oo set l t wi be un e ood hat a powe dr t n sh S i n ed in t e head as he u ual; wo dri e i n P, i eble th re n and e a n w a crown s r r a e t. meohanieell on: nected to the drive sooket I]. Because this 0on etruetion m be o env'oonven iohal ty e o example, that shown in the patent to Samuel I. Gabrielson, 3,561,195,1for Clothes Wringer Control M ha i t e n tinct Re ease T e a d assigne t t e e isnee of the pre ent invention, it has not been detailed herein. It is sufficient to know ha a p 19. pro ec n e oe trically from a o ab shaft i en ages a shift fo k F having fingers F" riding in slots in the said p n T u when a dr vin connection is to b m de with ear t haft 19 is rot ted to shift fork F up or down to engage a pinion with a drive pin D projecting from shaft S, according to the desired rotational direction of the lower wringer roll 8,.

A sleeve 20 fits over shaft [9 and is rotatably journaled in a collar 2| extending fr'oni' the wringer head. Diametrically opposed projections 22 of said sleeve fit snugly within pockets provided in the gear shift handle 23. Said handle also receives the polygonal end of shaft lilfand it will be obvious that rotation of handle '23 rotates shaft [9 and sleeve 20 as a unit.

Shaft 19 is biased to a ore-established neutral position by. means of a coil spring 26 wrapped about shaft I5 within sleeve 2t, and having ends which engage with one of the sleeve projections 22 and a similar projection 26 from the collar 2!. The spring ends therefore establish a home position of shaft I!) as shown in Fig. 3, because it will be recalled that the sleeve 20 and the shaft [9 are mechanically united by handle 23. Sleeve 20 preferably has three detent notches 21 for cooperation with a detent pin 28 slidably mounted in a bracket 29 projecting from the wringer head and a boss 30 on collar 2!, and suitably biased by the spring 3| to be driven into a notch as it comes into registry therewith. The said notches establish operating positions of the shift handle 23. It will be observed from Figs. 3 and 4 that as the handle is rotated to an operating position the spring 24 is placed under tension by the relative displacement of the spring ends at the collar extension 25 and the sleeve extension 22. In such position the detent pin is the sole agency by which the handle 23 and its associated gear shifting device are restrained against return to a neutral position.

The detent release means includes an arm 32 which may be integral with the bracket II to extend over the top of the head; said arm terminates on a fork embracing the vertical body por tion of a detent release actuator 33. A forked base 34 extending rectangularly from said body portion rests squarely upon the bracket29 and straddles the detent 28. The legs of the base 34 are provided with side edges 34a and 34b (Fig. 5) which afford fulcrums about which the actuator 33 may be rotated. The body portion of the actuator is pivotally affixed to said detent by a pin 35 which rides within a guide slot 36 provided in a guide Wall portion 36a of the wringer head. The pin 35 by slidable engagement with the guide wall portion 33a constrains the actuator 33 against lateral bodily displacement relative to the swinging axis of the frame 3.

The operation of the invention will be apparent from Figs. 3 and 4 in which it clearly appears that angular displacement of the lever 32 will enforce a rotation of the actuator 33 about either of its edges 34a or 34b, causing the detent pin to lift out of its detent notch and release the shift mechanism for return to neutral position under the urging of the spring 24.

It should be kept in mind that emergency release devices on clothes wringers may never be operated, and yet they must be always in condition for operation. Many contemporary devices are subject to the criticism that notwithstanding their protection by masks or exterior casings usually applied to wringers for appearnace purposes, operating parts may corrode so that their free movement i affected, with resultant sluggish operation or failure. My emergency device, notably by reason of its simplicity, has a high order of reliability. For example, it will be observed from Figs. 2 and 4 that only a slight angular displacement of the wringer frame is necessary to release the detent. Also it will be seen in Figs. 2 and 3 that the detent release actuator 33 had relatively small surface contact with its supporting wringer head elements. The round-ended walls defining the groove 36 offer little opportunity of corrosive attachment to the actuator, and the contact area between the base legs and the boss 29 is likewis small. The self-pivoting arrangement of the actuator, pursuant to which it rocks about its own base edges 35a and 34b as fulcrums, is more effective than a conventional fixed pivot, and eliminates the danger of freezing present in fixed pivot arrangements.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made; and I therefore contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a clothes wringer, the combination of a wringer head, frame means swingably carried thereon, wringer rolls journaled in said frame means, drive mechanism Within said head and including gear shift mechanism for driving said rolls, means for operating said gear shift mechanism from neutral to a driving position, including a rotary shift actuator, a detent sleeve thereon, and handle means for effecting a conjoint rotation of said actuator and said sleeve, spring means biasing said gear shift actuator to neutral position, a detent carried by said head for rectilinear movement therein, said detent engaging with said sleeve for releasably securing said gear shift in driving position, and means for withdrawing said detent for return of said gear shift to neutral, comprising a member having a body portion extending parallel to the path of movement of said detent and a base portion extending angularly therefrom and carried by said wringer head, said base portion having relatively narrow legs providing fulcrums on either side of said detent path, pin means pivotally interconnecting said detent and said body portion, walls projecting from said wringer head to define a channel parallel to said detent path for slidably receiving said pin means, said walls having end portions engaging with said body portion to support the same, and a lever extending from said frame means and engaging said body portion above the base thereof, whereby to enforce rotation of said detent withdrawing means upon swinging said frame means relative to said head.

2. In a clothes wringer, the combination of a wringer head, frame means swingably carried thereon, wringer rolls journaled in said frame means, drive mechanism within said head and including gear shift mechanism for driving said rolls, means for operating said gear shift mechanism from neutral to a driving position, including a shift actuator, a detent sleeve therefor, and handle means for operating said actuator, spring means biasing said gear shift actuator to neutral, a detent carried by said head for rectilinear movement therein, said detent engaging with said sleeve for releasably securing said gear shift in driving position, and means for withdrawing said detent for return of said gear shift to neutral, comprising a member having a body portion, a base portion extending angularly therefrom and carried by said wringer head, said base portion providing fulcrums at each side of said detent path, pin means pivotally interconnecting said detent and said body portion, walls on said wringer head defining a channel parallel to said detent path, said pin means extending into said channel, and means interconnecting said frame means and said body portion in spaced relationship with the base thereof to enforce rotation of said detent withdrawing member about a base fulcrum and consequent movement of said detent, upon rotation of said frame means relative to said head.

3. In a wringer, the combination of frame means journaling wringer rolls for rotation therein, a wringer head, means for swingably mounting said frame means on said head, drive mechanism within said head for driving said rolls in, one of another direction, said mechanism including a gear shift mechanism and means biasing said shift mechanism to neutral position, a detent carried by said head for movement in a fixed path, means biasing said detent into engagement with said shift mechanism to secure the same in driving position, and means for disengaging said detent from said shift means, comprising an angular member having a forked base supported on said head and straddling said detent to provide fulcrums for rotation of said member on said head, a pin pivotally securing said member to said detent above the base of said member, said wringer head having a slot in which said pin rides extending parallel to the path of movement of said detent, and a lever fixed to said frame mounting means and engaging said detent disengaging member, said pin precluding displacement of said member relative to said frame means in the direction of movement of said lever accompanying swinging said frame and thereby constraining said member to rock about one or the other of its fulcrums to enforce axial movement of said detent.

4. In a wringer having wringer rolls, a wringer frame supporting said rolls for rotation, a wringer head, drive mechanism therein including gear shift means for driving said rolls in one or another direction and means including a rotatable shaft to actuate said shift means, said shaft being biased to establish said shift mechanism at neutral, emergency release means for restoring said shift mechanism to neutral from a driving position, comprising means for swingably mounting said frame on said head, a detent pin slidably carried on said head and biased for engagement with said shaft means to releasably restrain the same in driving position, a detent pin actuator pivotally associated with said pin and including a relatively wide base member supported on said wringer head, a lever extending from said wringer frame mounting means and engaging with said detent pin actuator above the base thereof, and means constraining said actuator against bodily displacement in the direction of movement of said lever, whereby said lever movement will enforce a rotation of said actuator about an edge of its base as a fulcrum with resulting translation of the therewith pivotally associated detent pin relative to said shaft means.

5. In a wringer, the combination of frame means, wringer rolls journaled for rotation therein, a wringer head, means for swingably mounting said frame on said head, drive mechanism within said head and including gear shift mechanism for driving said rolls in one or another direction, means biasing said gear shift mechanism to return to neutral position, a gear shift detent carried by said head for movement in a fixed path, means biasing said detent to retain said shift mechanism in driving position, and means for operating said detent to release said gear shift, comprising a rigid member rockably carried on said head, said member having a body member and fulcrum-providing base elements disposed on opposite sides of said detent path, means for pivoting said body member to said detent, and a lever extending from said frame mounting and engaging the detent operating means to rock the same about one or the other of its fulcrum members. according to the movement of said lever.

6. A clothes wringer, comprising a wringer head, frame means journalling wringer rolls for rotation therein, said frame means being swingably mounted on said wringer head, drive mechanism within said head for driving said rolls in one or another direction, said mechanism including a gear shift biased to neutral position and means to operate said shift to establish the desired driving direction, detent means carried by said head and biased for engagement with said shift means to secure the same in shifted position, a detent actuator rockably supported on said head adjacent said detent, pin means pivotally interconnecting said actuator and said detent, said head having a guide, said pin means slidably engaging said guide to constrain said actuator against lateral bodily displacement relative to the swinging axis of said frame'means, and a lever projecting from said frame means and ena eable with said actuator to enforce rotation thereof relative to said detent upon movement of said frame means relative to said head.

CECIL W. FEHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,216,397 Kaufiman Oct. 1, 1940 2,216,398 Kaufiman Oct. 1, 1940 2,342,259 Etten Feb. 22, 1944 2,385,769 Altorfer Oct. 2, 1945 

